Nurse involved in Royal prank call commits suicide.

[OkToBeTakei]

They also said the hospital stated she was NOT suspended and was NOT subject to any form of disciplinary hearing.

[Guest Anonymous]

Regardless of her state of mind or reasons behind what she did, the fact remains that the loss of any life is a tragedy. Her pain is over and I hope she rests in peace but my thoughts now are with her family and friends. Even if this was completely unforeseen, even if they know they did everything they could, those left behind will probably never stop thinking of the "if only's" --wondering if there was just one more thing they could have said or done, one thing they may have missed that could have changed the course of events. I hope they're able to find peace.

Yes. All of this.

[emmyfair]

As a nurse myself, I find this totally heartbreaking. Her poor family, I just can't imagine.

[Alecto]

Though it hasn't been reported, I wouldn't be surprised that she was receiving hate mail, death threats, and her kids were being harassed.

[NjoyingNsanity]

How sad, I feel just awful for her family especially knowing she had kids. I hope the radio guys feel guilty and make some kind of apology to her family. While I seriously doubt they could have forseen anything this tragic happening as a result of their prank they should be man enough to make a sincere apology to this lady's family.

I kind of feel bad for Kate too this has to put a dark shadow over what should be a happy time for her. I don't know how she'd react, but I know it would make me feel just awful if I found out that someone committed suicide after unwittingly giving out personal info about me. I don't think I could help but feel a bit guilty.

[Mela99]

Very sad. It does make me wonder if maybe she faced ridicule, anger from supervisors, or even disciplinary action at work for allowing the call to go through?

Probably. I don't think it would be too presumptuous to say that the British -- secret service? I don't know what they call them across the pond -- showed up to talk.

I would think that they would have been strictly guarded and trained on how to deal with the royal family, especially since that hospital has treated them before.

OT, but I can't see the Queen Mum referring to Kate as her granddaughter. . . she never seems the cuddly type.

[Sola]

I'm sure there were underlying psychological problems. Suicide is not a normal reaction to something like this. It was likely the last in a string of factors.

So sad :(

Perhaps. But that hospital is very exclusive. I would find it hard to believe they would allow someone with psychological problems and/or mental illness (no matter how slight) to be caring for royalty.

I personally think it was probably more that she was dragged over the coals for this and she probably faced hate mail from royalists.

[precious_one]

I feel horrible for her family.

[Jana814]

I feel horrible for her family.

Same here!!

[Seven Severn]

I really hope that the media leaves her family alone. How awful.

The British media (meaning the tabloids) never leaves anyone alone, ever, unfortunately.

[Coconut Flan]

Reports are now that the hoax perpetrators suspended themselves. They're catching a lot of grief over this now.

[SPHASH]

My sympathy and prayers to her family. I had a brother and a cousin who committed suicide and I know how they feel.

[Gil]

Perhaps. But that hospital is very exclusive. I would find it hard to believe they would allow someone with psychological problems and/or mental illness (no matter how slight) to be caring for royalty.

I personally think it was probably more that she was dragged over the coals for this and she probably faced hate mail from royalists.

Mental illness isn't something that's always known to employers. Not that I think banning people with any sort of mental illness from working around important people is valid to begin with, but...

I heard about this earlier but I had no idea she had two kids. So sad. I hope they're doing okay.

[ADoyle90815]

The British media (meaning the tabloids) never leaves anyone alone, ever, unfortunately.

QFT. This isn't the first time someone has died as a result of tabloid harassment. My thoughts are with that nurse's family.

[Minerva]

Mental illness isn't something that's always known to employers. Not that I think banning people with any sort of mental illness from working around important people is valid to begin with, but...

I heard about this earlier but I had no idea she had two kids. So sad. I hope they're doing okay.

Yeah, short of them requiring everyone to be screened, with a lie detector, they'd have no way of knowing.

[Convicted Blossom]

snip

ETA: I'm confused. Was she the one who put the call through or the one who gave out the information about Kate over the phone?

I believe this nurse was the one who put the call through not the one who gave out the information. I do hope that the other nurse (and other staff) are being counselled.

[LadyFriend]

Mental illness isn't something that's always known to employers. Not that I think banning people with any sort of mental illness from working around important people is valid to begin with, but...

I heard about this earlier but I had no idea she had two kids. So sad. I hope they're doing okay.

Agreed. Plenty of people experience mild to severe depression and manage to keep it from everyone, including employers.

[constantgardener]

My sympathy and prayers to her family. I had a brother and a cousin who committed suicide and I know how they feel.

I heard this awful news on the radio as I left work today, having just taken a call from the mother of a colleague to say he had committed suicide. What a horrible waste of life. :(

[LucySnowe]

How awful.

This from the BBC:

A palace spokesman later added that "at no point did the palace complain to the hospital about the incident".

"On the contrary, we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times."

Which does not, of course, eliminate the possibility that the nurse had been reprimanded by anyone at the hospital itself. But it doesn't seem to have been 'Her Majesty's goons would like to have a word with you'.

[Witsec5]

I'm of the opinion that she was raked over the coals. The articles have said that this hospital was exclusive and "the royal hospital" mentioning that Prince Phillip was there earlier this year. Also, the DJ's were chastising her saying that she was the dumbest mark ever for not recognizing their accents. She was Indian and you can't blame her for not being able to detect an accent. I don't know if Indian culture has a strong shame base but maybe that was a factor as well. I would have to know more.

Anyway, it only takes a moment of despair to do something impulsive and permanent; so suicide can be a reactive response to a perfect storm, not always a long-term depression or mental imbalance. I'm glad the DJ's who did this have been suspended.

[VVV]

According to a story I heard on NPR, the hospital had been nothing but supportive of the nurse, and there was no disciplinary action taken against her. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =166732478

[AVENues]

Dare I say... I'm not entirely sure she wasn't being "helped". She, if it's true, messed around with people who mean business. My sympathies to her family and I fear we'll never know the truth.

[Witsec5]

I agree that she wasn't being "helped." It's not like they were going to say nothing to her and I'm sure they didn't say, "Good job." Her coworkers might have been fairly supportive but there is a level of narcissism at the higher reaches of every organization and I'm sure there was a speech at least given, even if it was to all employees.

[AVENues]

I agree that she wasn't being "helped." It's not like they were going to say nothing to her and I'm sure they didn't say, "Good job." Her coworkers might have been fairly supportive but there is a level of narcissism at the higher reaches of every organization and I'm sure there was a speech at least given, even if it was to all employees.

If fairly supportive means, patronizingly forgiving... that's no help in my eyes, either.

If the speech was given to all employees, that means humiliation in public in one of her most crucial and closest environments.

[FaustianSlip]

This is terrible, and I feel awful for this woman and her family. Even if the prank was transparent (and I haven't heard the tapes or anything, so I have no idea), she did nothing wrong- it's not like she figured out that the caller wasn't who they said they were or that she was colluding with these DJs somehow. And if she was Indian, she may very well have been unable to distinguish the real "posh" accent from a fake one. The fact of the matter is that this isn't the first time, in the UK or elsewhere, that one of these stupid, shock-jock type of prank calls has gone horribly awry, here or elsewhere. I find most of them to be very mean-spirited and usually not even funny, and for the DJs in question to follow the prank up by mocking this woman on the air is really cruel. I hope they feel like absolute shite about what they've done and are forced to apologize, at the very least. Assholes.

I also agree that it's good to hear that the Royals didn't give the hospital or the nurse a hard time, although I also doubt that this went without comment from her colleagues or supervisors. But really, things happen, people make mistakes. It's not like she let some masked man into the Duchess's room off the street or something, for crying out loud. She was obviously having problems beforehand to have this reaction, but as others have mentioned, if she's from a culture that is more shame-based and preoccupied with face than Western cultures tend to be (and if she's Indian, I think it's reasonable to say that she is, to a certain extent- there's definitely a feeling of, "You represent our family's good name," et cetera in the Indian families I've known), the humiliation of this whole incident would have been profound. I mean, I cringed reading about it, and I think I'm reasonably well-equipped to shrug off embarrassing stuff, but there's screwing up and being embarrassed and there's being nationally/internationally mocked. Ugh.